Apologies for the crudely edited picture - if you made the recess where the areas are marked in black, the fretboard would it higher. Obviously this would present a problem in that there would be gaps on the sides of the box from where the neck used to sit. I think as long as the fretboard and box top are flush you should just go for it. Please don't let me put you off - this is a beautiful instrument you're working on and I really want to see it finished!
I don't think you'd have to raise the fingerboard - just cut the recess (the part of the neck that fits under the box) a little deeper. Could you post a pic of the full neck? It's a little difficult to make out in those photos!
Rickey, I've reread your comments. The finger board and the lid will be flush the way I'm going at things at the moment. I don't want to make another finger board if I don't have to, but I could shim the finger board and lift it slightly. Should I raise the finger board a few mm's?
Hey Richey, thanks for your feedback. I think I'm ok. In all the pictures the pieces of the guitar are just sitting in place. Today I started applying the satin clear and once I have enough coats done I'll put it together properly. The neck is fitted underneath the box top. Not happy with this and will do things a bit differently in future. I got around this by cutting the finger board the same thickness as the lid. The finger board and lid are flush when everything is assembled proper. Have a look at the pictures below. I cut the recess in the ends of the box a little smaller than the neck. I then cut a channel in the bottom and sides of the neck so that the neck drops into the recesses (difficult to describe?). My reasoning was I thought I would get a neater job than trying to cut the box out to the same size as the neck. I appreciate everyone's interest and comments to help me get this complete and playable.
John - I've been looking through your photos again and noticed on this wonderful looking guitar that the lid of the box appears higher than the fretboard - this could make it quite difficult to achieve a playable string action. I'm not sure if you were planning to make a recess on the through neck, as this would most likely remedy it. After my fist couple of guitars proved difficult to play (the fretboards were flush with the box lid) I settled on a design where the neck was higher than the box lid by 6mm, so for example if the box lid was 4mm thick, I would chisel out an 11mm recess in the part of the neck which sat under the box, which allows for the fretboard to sit higher than the lid and allows a 1mm gap between the 2 pieces so the lid can resonate more freely. Apologies if you've already got this on the 'to do' list!
Comments
I don't think you'd have to raise the fingerboard - just cut the recess (the part of the neck that fits under the box) a little deeper. Could you post a pic of the full neck? It's a little difficult to make out in those photos!
Rickey, I've reread your comments. The finger board and the lid will be flush the way I'm going at things at the moment. I don't want to make another finger board if I don't have to, but I could shim the finger board and lift it slightly. Should I raise the finger board a few mm's?
Thanks,
John
Hey Richey, thanks for your feedback. I think I'm ok. In all the pictures the pieces of the guitar are just sitting in place. Today I started applying the satin clear and once I have enough coats done I'll put it together properly. The neck is fitted underneath the box top. Not happy with this and will do things a bit differently in future. I got around this by cutting the finger board the same thickness as the lid. The finger board and lid are flush when everything is assembled proper. Have a look at the pictures below. I cut the recess in the ends of the box a little smaller than the neck. I then cut a channel in the bottom and sides of the neck so that the neck drops into the recesses (difficult to describe?). My reasoning was I thought I would get a neater job than trying to cut the box out to the same size as the neck. I appreciate everyone's interest and comments to help me get this complete and playable.
Thanks, John
John - I've been looking through your photos again and noticed on this wonderful looking guitar that the lid of the box appears higher than the fretboard - this could make it quite difficult to achieve a playable string action. I'm not sure if you were planning to make a recess on the through neck, as this would most likely remedy it. After my fist couple of guitars proved difficult to play (the fretboards were flush with the box lid) I settled on a design where the neck was higher than the box lid by 6mm, so for example if the box lid was 4mm thick, I would chisel out an 11mm recess in the part of the neck which sat under the box, which allows for the fretboard to sit higher than the lid and allows a 1mm gap between the 2 pieces so the lid can resonate more freely. Apologies if you've already got this on the 'to do' list!
Fantastic job you are doing!
Looks great, John. I love those distressed instruments.
And finally.http://youtu.be/Nv6aNIPo9EA
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